


The Bell Tolls

by Mina Lightstar (ukefied)



Series: SPN Pairing Bingo [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/F, foregone conclusion, spnpairingbingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-09
Updated: 2012-12-09
Packaged: 2017-11-20 17:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ukefied/pseuds/Mina%20Lightstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tessa has been most gracious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bell Tolls

“Joanna Beth Harvelle.”

Jo doesn’t bother looking up. She knows who it is; only Tessa can see her these days. She huddles further into a ball and glares at the flowing river. Her father used to bring her to a riverbed like this, a lifetime ago. She wishes she’d appreciated it more.

“Jo,” Tessa says, more softly, “it’s time.”

She shakes her head, resolute. Her fingers tighten on her cold arms, nails digging into her skin.

Tessa sits down on the bank next to her. She’s warm and pretty and welcoming; if this is how death comes, Jo can’t believe anyone is afraid of crossing over.

Jo’s not afraid, she’s just not ready. “If it’s time, why aren’t you dressed in black and carrying the scythe?”

She hears Tessa stifle a sigh. “If you think that would help you, I’d be happy to comply. The boss prefers we don’t steal his thunder, though.”

“I can’t go yet,” Jo insists. “Lucifer’s still out there. The plan failed.” She doesn’t say _“I died for nothing,”_ because that’s not fair to Sam and Dean.

“Yes,” Tessa says, setting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry for that. But it was weeks ago, Jo. We’ve let you stay long enough.”

Jo balls her hands into fists. “I thought you’d let me stay until the end. I thought you’d let me make sure they won.”

“I’ve given you as long as I can.” Tessa removes her hand and looks out at the river. “Jo, if you stay much longer … you’ll begin to lose yourself. Do you want to become something you would hunt?” She gives Jo a sidelong glance. “Would you want Sam or Dean to come after you?”

“Why did _you_ come after me?” Jo counters, finally turning to face the Reaper head-on. “You weren’t one of the Reapers summoned to Carthage.”

Tessa smiles, looking a mite wistful. “For Dean. Dean and I go way back,” she explains when Jo’s eyes widen. “When I heard what was happening in Carthage, I wanted to find out what the Morning Star was up to. When I found you and your mother, well, I figured it was the least I could do.”

Jo nods. “Dean gets around, huh?” she mumbles, and suddenly she’s crying, but she doesn’t know why.

Tessa pulls her close, tucks Jo’s head under her chin and squeezes her tight. “Your fight’s over, Jo. Your mother’s waiting.”

She sniffles, pulling back far enough to look up at the Reaper. “Is she all right? Is she safe? Is she—”

Tessa kisses her. It’s deep but chaste at the same time, pulling at the core of her very being and enveloping it in soothing warmth. Jo’s responding before she realizes it, tangling her fingers in the Reaper’s hair. _Courting death,_ she thinks. It makes her smile against Tessa’s mouth.

“I can’t tell you that,” Tessa says, stroking Jo’s cheeks. “I’ve told you, I can’t share anything about the other side. You have to find out for yourself.”

Jo inhales Tessa’s scent, eyelids fluttering shut. If she were alive, she might have described it as lilies, vanilla, and myrrh. Now she associates it with peace.

Tessa kisses her again, softly on the lips. “Are you ready?”

She breathes deep, remembering hellhounds and demons and Lucifer. The rage is gone now, and she knows her part in the story is over. Sam and Dean had better kill that son of a bitch.

Jo opens her eyes. “Yes.”

 

~end


End file.
